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Gut Reaction: Mets 4, Rockies 2 (8/10/15)

The Mets scored three runs in the seventh inning for a come-from-behind 4-2 win over the Rockies in Citi Field Monday night.

A single and two walks loaded the bases with two outs for Curtis Granderson in the seventh. He did a great job of working the count and was hit by a pitch to tie the game. Daniel Murphy followed with an opposite field single that drove in two.

The comeback made a winner of Jon Niese, who for the second straight game was the beneficiary of a late offensive rally. Outside of the fourth inning, when he gave up three hits, including a two-run homer to Carlos Gonzalez, Niese pitched well. He retired his final 11 batters and his line was 7 IP, 2 ER, 0 BB and 5 Ks.

Jeurys Familia retired the side in order in the 9th for his 31st Save of the season. It was his sixth straight appearance without allowing a run since the rain/umpire/TC debacle against the Padres.

The Mets moved to 39-18 at Citi Field and 11-4 in their last 15 games.

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11 comments for “Gut Reaction: Mets 4, Rockies 2 (8/10/15)”

TexasGusCC

August 11, 2015 at 12:57 am

How the heck did CarGo hit a low and away fastball on a line drive out of the park the other way? Wow.

Seems like the Mets bats’ consistency has disappeared since that seven game streak allowing them to lose two games in Tampa after scoring early but not after that, twice. Tonight, they needed three free base runners after a single to tie the game and a grounder the other way that snuck through the infield to take the lead. But, a win, is a win, is a win. Tomorrow comes Harvey Day!

I’m undecided about this — and I don’t think it’s hurt the Mets in any instance I can think of — but again for last night’s game TC used a LH-heavy lineup that left 4 RH batters on the bench.

I think if it were me, I’d want to keep one LH hitter in reserve, just in case. But I think the argument could go the other way (better to give that LH batter three ABs than, say, one key AB late in the game).

Oh, and I thought Gary really misspoke when he chastised Weiss for not bringing in a RHP against Cespedes. The last two seasons, Cespedes has hit under .200 against LHP. It’s weird, it doesn’t make sense, it’s inconsistent with the early part of his career, but . . . the guy is hitting over .300 against RHP and under .180 against LHP. There’s no way in the world I’d bring in the RHP to face this guy in a key situation.

It’s probably just an academic question, but I’m not yet convinced that I’d be willing to pony up a 6-year, $125 million contract for Yoenis. The one great advantage is that he can play CF for two years, then shift to RF after Curtis’ contract expires. So in a way, you are only putting up that money for two years before you are essentially reinvesting the Granderson money into Cespedes. Teams need big bats in the lineup. At the same time, those long, big contracts are so tricky; it’s essential to spend that money on the right guy. Is Yoenis the right guy? I honestly don’t know yet.

I’d still like to extend deGrom this winter, if he can be tempted by it, and yes, they’ve got to give Lucas the money. He rejected 3/$30. Does 4/$50 get it done?

It appears there’s going to be a Conforto-Cuddyer platoon in LF which sounds good on the surface. Except that in a limited sample this year, Cuddyer hasn’t hit LHP (.598 OPS) at all. This goes against his career stats but what he’s doing in 2015 seems more relevant than what happened in 2009, when he destroyed LHP.

A much more defensible argument can be made for platooning them on a H/R basis. Cuddyer has a .764 OPS in home games compared to a .603 mark in road games, numbers consistent with his career patterns.

But it will never happen because no one will criticize a manager for utilizing a traditional L/R platoon. And decisions are made based on what will draw the least criticism rather than what will put the team in the best position to win.

I am glad that Michael Conforto stayed with the big club, and particularly happy with Sandy’s reasoning, that “development” takes a back seat to “winning.”

That said, I don’t think there’s any great need to play Conforto on a regular basis (unless, of course, he earns it). He can learn so much, and develop as a professional ballplayer, just by being around the Mets (new) professional atmosphere. He’s just gone through the longest season of his life. Some time on the bench is perfectly fine — and still, to my thinking, a huge advantage to spending time in Las Vegas in August. A ridiculous atmosphere for baseball.

Likewise, I feel it’s time to take the gloves off with the pitchers, too. I mean, I’m not against a spot start by Verrett or Gee, say, to keep the starters fresh. But in individual games, I think the Mets need to push these guys a little deeper if and when the situation calls for it. We’ve seen it time and again in baseball, where excess caution (I know, define “excess) leads to lost games. How does Weiss pull Gray after 75 pitches last night, even when the limit was reportedly 80-85 going into the game? The answer: He’s given up on the season. He’s thinking long term. Okay, sure, whatever. But the Mets are not in that situation.

It’s been prudent and wise for the Mets to try to be careful with these young arms. However, as we get down to it, many of those limitations need to go away. Plans are great — until you get out there and realize that there was no way to plan for this. Mostly I’m just advocating for a game-by-game basis where the answer is, hell, let’s go a little deeper and try to win this thing.

JP , I agree that the innings limits are not necessary and a spot start to keep the arms ” fresh” is the route to go. I am not sure that “pushing” pitchers is the right way to go. Fatigue seems to be one of the major causes for an injury. High or extended pitch counts causes pitchers to throw pitches while fatigued.
Then sometimes pitch counts have nothing to do with it. The other night, Colon was not hitting his mark but had kept the Mets in the game and had a low pitch count. Should TC have pulled him after 6 before he served up the gopher ball? I didn’t think of it but I don’t have the first hand knowledge of the catcher, pitching coach or the manager. Effectively managing a pitching staff is one of the hardest jobs as a manager.

Metsense, I hear you and by “push” I don’t mean anything crazy. I just don’t want the mentality to be so exceedingly soft where an effective Matt Harvey gets lifted after 7 in order to preserve an imaginary IP limit. If he’s going well and strong and under 105 and the game is on the line, I’d be inclined to roll him out there to get an extra out or two or three. I’m not advocating that we start asking these guys to throw 130 pitches. It’s all situational, game by game basis, so hard to debate in a vacuum. Other than to say: the caution has been good, but I think it’s time when a little bit less caution is in order.

For the record, I hate the idea of shutting any of these guys down. It’s just not an option as far as I’m concerned.

Keeping Conforto on the roster may be reflective of confidence in Cuddy and his health/production capacity. I believe there’s a restriction on bringing a player back from Minor League assignment….10 days? They don’t want to figure out that Cuddy can’t cut it and be stuck with leaving Conforto in Vegas.

It’s something we seem to see more and more, players who have been hurt, playing a very few minor league games, then returning to the MLB before they are ready. Cuddyer gets 8 ABs. D’Arnaud gets rushed back. Etcetera. I think it has something to do with the CBA. Veteran players can’t get dumped in rehab-land.

I still like Michael Cuddyer, particularly as a 4th outfielder/pinch-hitter. The guy is not that far removed from being NL batting champion. At the same time, it’s equally possible that he’ll need 25 ABs before he even gets up to speed. The rules, however, appear to prevent that from happening anywhere other than in the major leagues.

The maximum allowed on a rehab assignment to 20 days for position players and 30 days for pitchers.(from Brian’s above link)
Cuddyer’s should not have been called back until he got his stroke and timing down. He was 0-7 vs minor league pitching. There was no rush and it would have done him good. I too think that Cuddyer will contribute and fit in nicely in his limited role down the stretch.